The expectations of medical instruments, in particular of medical instruments for micro-invasive procedures, increase continually. Medical instruments having a tool with a gripping or cutting function on the distal end are already provided in a great variety and are widely distributed. Increasingly further functions and degrees of freedom are added, for example rotation of the tool about the longitudinal axis of the shaft, an ability to bend the shaft proximally of the tool or a second, independently controllable acting device on the tool. A second transferring element can be provided in the shaft of the medical instrument to control said further functions or degrees of freedom, for example a second transferring rod.
In the case of medical instruments that can be used multiple times, an ability to be taken apart as extensively as possible as a prerequisite for total cleaning is particularly important. In this case, it can be noticed that a growing number of functions and degrees of freedom requires an ever more extensive ability to be taken apart or an ability to be taken apart into ever more individual parts. At the same time, it should be possible to handle all the individual parts and to take apart and to fit together the medical instrument as reliably as possible and in a simple and intuitive manner or with a small amount of expenditure on training. In particular, it should be possible to take it apart with as few steps as possible. In this case, it is helpful when the medical instrument has as few actuating devices as possible for unlocking the mechanical connections of the individual parts.